Prosecutors urged a federal judge on Tuesday to reject ousted Judge Michael Maggio's request that his bribery conviction be dismissed and blamed him for no other convictions in the corruption scandal.
Supreme Court Justice Rhonda Wood announced her candidacy for the chief justice seat being vacated by Dan Kemp. Wood was cleared by Arkansas Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission after facing an ethics complaint related to the bribery scandal involving former Circuit Judge Michael Maggio and former state Senator Gilbert Baker.
Former Judge Michael Maggio, who pleaded guilty to bribery in a scandal that engulfed a wealthy nursing-home owner and the former chairman of the Arkansas Republican Party, has asked a federal judge to dismiss the entire case against him.
Former Republican lobbyist Gilbert Baker of Conway has issued a statement praising the nation's legal system after a federal judge dismissed a bribery wire-fraud indictment against Baker.
Gilbert Baker, once a powerful Republican lobbyist in Arkansas and former chairman of the Arkansas Republican Party, is out of legal jeopardy for the first time in years.
A judge has granted some but not all of former Republican lobbyist Gilbert Baker's requested changes in instructions to the jury that will decide his upcoming corruption trial next month.